A Kansas parent is outraged after a school bus driver ordered her 13-year-old son to perform a pat-down search on another student who was believed to have been smoking marijuana, frisking the alleged pothead from the shoulders to the feet. Both students attend an area middle school. The mother voiced her outrage, demanding an answer for the reasons her son was demeaned in front of other student by uncomfortably touching a peer. “This bus driver obviously didn’t know what to do,” said the mother.
A 13-year-old girl was pronounced dead by officials after she leapt from her moving bus along Interstate I-45 in Galveston, Texas. Authorities reported that the school bus was returning from an alternative education program when a fight broke out between the victim and another student. The driver separated the two, sending them to opposite ends of the bus. The girl was in the back of the bus when she hit the emergency exit button on purpose and jumped from the bus, which was traveling at 55 mph. “The back door of the bus opened, and then the alarm sounded, which made several of the kids focus their attention toward the back door. They witnessed this 13-year-old young lady jump onto the freeway,” said the county sheriff. The victim was in critical condition at the hospital before she died.
A Buckeye State school bus driver is being hailed as a hero after helping deputies halt a robbery in progress. While driving his usual route, Shawn Ost was approached by one of his students who told him an unusual van was parked in her driveway. Ost confirmed the unusual presence of the vehicle with the student’s brother, witnessing people making a series of trips back and forth from the house carrying items and loading the van. Ost alerted the authorities, sharing descriptions of the suspects and vehicle with police. The county sheriff deputies were able to locate the robbers and arrest them based on the information provided by the bus driver. Remaining humble, Ost said that it was his students that pointed out the irregularity and he was simply doing his job.
The Kent School District is celebrating the award of a $50,000 grant that will help equip 125 of its school buses with GPS tracking. The Ohio school district is one of almost a dozen districts nationwide to receive the grant from the National Association for Pupil Transportation and Zonar Systems. Kent’s director of transportation described the technology assisting the district in increasing efficiency in routing. “It will let us track the buses, their locations, their times so that we can work on efficiency in our routing. It will also have time stamps for when we get to stops, so it will also help us with our time,” said the director.
